Jordan keeps Silva machine right on track
Penalty heroics set victory platform
In Seville last Monday Jordan Pickford was firing decisive passes from the back to set up chances and fortify national confidence that England’s football evolution is genuine.
On Merseyside yesterday he was using his feet in a more traditional goalkeeping sense, saving another penalty at a crucial juncture and providing the platform for Everton’s dramatic late win.
He kicked away the spot-kick by Luka Milivojevic on the hour, reacting sharply to the shot down the middle, and provoked a wave of passion at Goodison Park that eventually carried Everton to victory.
Marco Silva looked a genius as his three substitutes provided the concussive blows to Crystal Palace in the closing stages. Everton’s manager sent on Ademola Lookman and Dominic Calvert-Lewin in the 82nd minute. Five minutes later he was celebrating as the pair combined to open the scoring.
Silva’s changes were in pursuit of victory and his team responded, pressing high to create space for Lookman, who produced a cultured cross that Calvert-Lewin headed in assuredly.
Two minutes later, Silva’s first substitute put the gloss on victory. Michael Keane’s clearance put Cenk Tosun in a race with Mamadou Sakho and the Turkey striker won comfortably, controlling the ball superbly then driving a finish between the legs of Wayne Hennessey.
So it was a third Premier League win in a row, although the game might just as easily have finished in defeat.
It could have been another game where Wilfried Zaha’s influence brought his team three points. He won Palace’s penalty on the hour but it appears Milivojevic did not watch England’s World Cup shootout against Colombia. Had he done so he would have known that you go down the middle against Pickford at your peril.
Pickford said: ‘I looked at his run-up and he normally whips it, so I thought he was going to go my left. But I left my right leg dangling and managed to get a foot on it.
‘It was a game-changer as it got the crowd going. I don’t mind taking penalties but I don’t really
practise saving them much. I do a bit of research. That’s it.’
Silva added: ‘He has this profile, he is solid, he can keep calm in that moment to take the right decision.’
Silva’s work from the dugout was instrumental, too. ‘Sometimes you change and everything goes well, sometimes you try and it is not the same,’ he said. ‘In that moment the most important thing was that we tried. We changed the formation. The three players came in and helped the team. This shows us everybody is ready to fight for his position.’
Roy Hodgson slumped in his chair at Pickford’s save. He knows a sliding doors moment when he sees one.
‘It’s hard to sit here as a loser again,’ said Palace’s manager. ‘I could easily be a winner or at least someone who has coached his team to a positive point. The penalty made a difference. The crowd reacted and really gave them fresh impetus going forwards. We were so close to a good result, and nobody could have begrudged us it.’
Palace have scored only five goals all season so Hodgson’s decision to start Zaha after a late fitness test was understandable. Everton certainly set about examining whether a hamstring injury picked up on international duty was fully healed.
Zaha was fouled four times in the first half and when the last of those went in Hodgson blew his lid at the fourth official. Kurt Zouma had come through the back of Zaha but Anthony Taylor kept his cards in his pocket. Still, it gave Milivojevic his first dead-ball chance and the Palace captain struck an excellent free-kick that bounced just in front of Pickford, who pushed it round the post.
From Andros Townsend’s corner James Tomkins nodded back and Cheikhou Kouyate leapt to head towards goal. The arc of the ball was inches too high for Pickford’s extended arm but it was not too low to avoid the bar and Everton scrambled the rebound behind.
To that point Silva’s side had been in charge. Andre Gomes, making his Everton debut, was adding extra creativity from central midfield and Seamus Coleman, back in the team after missing six weeks, was providing thrust down the right.
It was from that avenue that Everton’s best chance of the half arrived. Gylfi Sigurdsson rolled the ball out to Coleman, and followed up with a run into the box. Coleman found him with the pull back and Sigurdsson clipped a smart finish towards the top corner, only for Hennessey to make a good save.
The threat of Zaha always loomed though and on the hour Coleman couldn’t resist the temptation to try a tackle as Zaha dribbled his way into the box but he was a moment too slow and clipped his adversary’s standing leg just as he cut back.
Unfortunately for Palace, Milivojevic failed to convert and from there Everton grabbed the initiative.